The Rocks & Chains Tour
January 1788: over 1,400 convicts, marines, and officials spilled off the First Fleet into Sydney Cove. The Eora people had been here for tens of thousands of years — and let’s just say they didn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat. What followed wasn’t polite colonisation, but the
Empire’s wildest outpost: a jail, a port, and a city built on chains, rum, and rebellion. For nearly 80 years, Sydney was the British Empire’s rowdiest frontier — a place of culture clashes, backbreaking labour, and more scandal than order. And out of all that grit came the rough humour and survival instinct that still defines the city today.
What You’ll Dig Up
1.Clash of worlds
Eora Country meets convicts, marines, and misfits.
2.Convicts vs captains
Crime, punishment, and the defiance that kept things interesting.
3.Larrikins & legends
Crime, punishment, and the defiance that kept things interesting.
4.Hidden history
Alleys and corners where the plaques stay quiet.
Tour Details
What You’ll Take Away
1
The real origin story of Sydney, raw and unpolished.
2
A deeper sense of the larrikin streak that still runs through Sydney today.
3
A gritty new lens on the city’s foundations.
Don’t Just Visit Sydney. Roam Its History.
Small groups. Big stories. Tours that sell out fast — slip the leash and join the pack.
